Multiple-purchase coupons incite anger

SuperCouponingJill Cataldo

April 13, 2014 12:01 AM

SuperCouponingJill Cataldo

April 13, 2014 12:01 AM

Coupons that require the purchase of two or more items continue to plague or delight my readers, depending on a person's perspective. When readers complain about having to buy two or more of an item, others have responded with ideas -- everything from, "It's good to have one extra on hand," to "Donate the extra one to a food pantry." This advice hasn't exactly sat well with some of my readers.

Dear Jill: I am 61, single and live on a very limited budget. A large number of coupons I find in the paper are dollars off a purchase of multiple items. As I stated, I am single -- why should my only option be to purchase more than I need just to receive the benefit of the coupon?

This seems to be highly unfair and targeted against those of us who are not as well off as "normal" Americans. Not to sound like a petulant child, but it is most unfair. As much as I dislike doing so, I will continue buying store-brands as much as possible, as well as going to the dollar store. -- Linda P.

Dear Jill: What part of, "We don't want to have to buy multiple products in order to use a coupon" don't you understand? In every town across America you have these 30-, 40-, and 50-somethings that have more money than they have brains telling those of us who have Social Security and a small pension that we can donate our extras. We already find ourselves being held hostage by manufacturers that expect us 70-plus-year-olds to pay and pay. This foolishness has got to stop. It might even have the opportunity to stop with you, should you come to your senses. -- Stan S.

For what it's worth, I don't create the coupons -- I just write about them. I'll embrace the title of brainy 40-something though, as I genuinely try to help my readers save money. Here's how I look at it: If I have a $1-off-2 coupon for cereal, and cereal is on sale for $1.99, I will buy two to use the coupon. Even if I lived alone, the likelihood that I will eat that second box of cereal before it expires is very high.

Remember, cereal has an 11- to 12-month expiration date. What if, in one month, my first box of cereal is gone, and when I go to buy another one, it's now on sale for $3.99? In the long run, I would have been far better off to buy two for $2.98 with my coupon than to buy one for $1.99, and a second one later for $3.99 -- totaling $5.98 for the same two boxes of cereal.

Readers do seem to be split on this issue. They're either angry about multiple-purchase coupons, or they fully embrace them. There seems to be no in-between.